Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2021 to Question 15357, whether Transport for the North will be able to work with Great British Railways (GBR) to appoint a public sector operator to run TransPennine Express (TPE) and Northern passenger services when GBR is established.

Under the Williams-Shapps plan for rail, GBR will contract with private sector operators to deliver passengers services. We intend keep the best elements of the private sector that have helped drive growth with new contracts for passenger operators with strong incentives to run high-quality services. However, the ability to appoint a public sector operator will be retained and adapted so that interventions can be made in the interests of passengers and taxpayers if this is required, although it is our intention that services will be run by the private sector.